On March 23, 2020, in partnership with the Sobey Foundation and members of the Sobey Family, we created the Community Action Fund to help address the immediate emergency needs of local organizations across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund donated millions of dollars to community programs and efforts chosen by our frontline teammates at our 1,500 locations across Canada. We also worked closely with food banks across the country to help alleviate the strain on their services. The Fund’s efforts are ongoing, as we continue to support frontline organizations that assist our most vulnerable neighbours in the long road to recovery.
To see the many ways our store teams are bringing the Community Action Fund to life, visit here.
Meal Exchange provides year-round support for post-secondary students facing food insecurity. Before COVID-19 hit, almost 40 per cent of post-secondary students in Canada were experiencing food insecurity.
The number has spiked since the crisis began and the majority of post-secondary students in the country are now food insecure. In just a few days, the organization received more than 500+ requests from students across the country for emergency food support and the number continues to grow. Our donation of $100,000 in gift cards enabled Meal Exchange to provide immediate emergency food support to more than 500 students in 23 communities across Canada until the end of June 2020. Students receive a $200 gift card to help ensure they have food on their tables for eight weeks.
The City of Toronto worked closely with community and corporate partners to ensure that the food needs of vulnerable Torontonians were met during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were there to support in the first few weeks of the pandemic, and donated cases of food valued at $365,000 to ensure Second Harvest, Daily Bread, North York Harvest and others could help vulnerable people access the essentials they needed during this unprecedented time.
A concerned corporate citizen reached out to Edmonton’s K97 radio station to help facilitate an on-air grocery gift card giveaway to help those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The anonymous donor gave $20,000 to fund the initiative and asked Sobeys and Safeway to join as a partner. Our Sobeys and Safeway stores jumped into action, donating an additional $5,000. The donations gave 25 Edmonton community groups on the frontline of the crisis a $100 gift card to help feed neighbours reaching out for support.
Giving Tuesday is a longstanding “day of giving” usually implemented in the first week of December. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Giving Tuesday Foundation created another day of giving on May 5, 2020 to spearhead public donations to frontline organizations amid increased need. We are a long-standing partner of The Greater Vancouver Food Bank. A $50,000 donation from our Safeway banner was leveraged as a match for the first $50,000 donated during the event to encourage others to give on May 5.
LakeCity Works, of Dartmouth Nova Scotia, is a social enterprise that helps people with mental illness build on their strengths, take on responsibilities and acquire work experience, education and employment. When LakeCity had to temporarily cease its operations during the pandemic, it began sending food hampers to clients once a week for support. Our stores sent 1,080 of our own pre-packaged hampers to Dartmouth from Western Canada to help LakeCity Works fulfill its orders.
La Tablée des Chefs and partners, including our IGA banner, launched an initiative, Les Cuisines Solidaires, to fill the refrigerators of the Food Banks of Quebec by preparing more than 800,000 meals for those in need during the pandemic. COVID-19 severely affected the activities of the province’s community organizations, many of which had to close due to lack of resources. Les Cuisines Solidaires included more than 100 participating chefs and cooks, 500 tonnes of food from food industry partners such as IGA. The Food Banks of Quebec distributed meals to hundreds of organizations across Quebec, feeding more than 800,000 people.
Since opening its first store in Victoria, British Columbia’s, Fairfield neighbourhood, Thrifty Foods has been giving back to its community. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, local communities across Canada need support more than ever... Read MoreWithin days of launching the Community Action Fund, our Thrifty Foods stores created dozens of unique acts of support addressing the emergency needs facing frontline community organizations. Notably, Thrifty Foods pledged to match donations to the Victoria Foundation’s Rapid Relief Fund up to $100,000. The pledge contributed to helping the Rapid Relief Fund achieve its fundraising goal of $6 million to support local registered charities providing support to vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic. Read Less
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